Dec. 29, 2005

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Junior Deon Barrett has advanced to the quarterfinals at 165 pounds, and four other Tar Heels remain alive in the consolation brackets to lead North Carolina's wrestling team Thursday at UNC Greensboro's Southern Scuffle at the Greensboro Coliseum.

The Tar Heels are currently tied for 10th place in the team standings with 30.5 points. Action resumes at 9 a.m. Friday with championship bouts slated for 6:30 p.m. Minnesota leads the event with 58 points.

A transfer from Navy, Barrett opened with a 12-4 major decision over Virginia Tech's Mark Czarny and a 9-3 decision over Ohio's Kent Smith. He moved on the quarters thanks to a default by Lehigh's Troy Letters. Tar Heel senior Garrett Atkinson also won twice to reach the round of 16 at 165 but was eliminated with losses in his next two bouts.

Junior Drew Forshey (125), sophomore Justin Dobies (184) and 197-pounders David Dashiell and Dennis Drury are all alive in the consolation brackets and will return to action Friday.

Juniors Bobby Shaw and Forshey, who is seeded second, each opened with a pair of wins to advance round of 16 at 125 pounds. Shaw dropped his first next two bouts, while Forshey fell to Kent State's Chad Sportelli (3-1 OT) but rebounded with a 3-1 decision over Missouri's Tim Kephart.

Dobies opened with a 10-3 win over John McClure of Eastern Michigan but dropped his next bout. He then ran off three straight in the consolation bracket, including a pin of Ohio State's Brent Billet.

At 197, Dashiell opened with a 16-2 major decision over Navy's Tyler Moyer but fell in the round of 16 to Jerry Rinaldi or Cornell before an 8-0 major decision over Charles Dreighton of East Stroudsburg. Drury dropped his first bout of the day but has responded with three consecutive victories, including a pin of VMI's Neils Madsen.